TXKtoday.com : Texarkana police arrest car lot owner for robberies

Troy Ware is charged with several armed robberies in Texarkana.TXKtoday.com

The Texarkana, AR, Police Department arrested Troy Ware, 65, on Wednesday morning after a yearlong investigation of multiple reported armed robberies committed throughout the area in 2017.

The Criminal Investigation Division began the investigation last February when the Bancorp South office in the 2200 block of North State Line Avenue. The bank branch was robbed at gunpoint by a person who placed an object in the business door to prevent the door from closing while he held the clerks at gunpoint and took what money he could.

Thirteen additional robberies, committed in similar fashion, continued throughout Texarkana during the 11 months since last February. In one instance, when a store clerk failed to fully cooperate the robber fired gunshots into the business and in the general direction of the clerk.

Detectives continued collecting evidence and identified behavior and mannerism characteristics of the robber by watching many hours of closed circuit video. They also conducted surveillance of likely robbery locations in which 36 TAPD detectives and officers compiled more than 320 hours of surveillance time at a cost of over $12,494 to the city.

As the robberies continued, setectives learned the suspect likely had access to several different type cars based on the video camera footage. In one robbery a witness believed she recognized the robbery suspect’s voice as that of a regular customer, Troy Ware. She told a TTPD investigating detective, who relayed that information to Detective Shane Kirkland of TAPD.

Detective Kirkland and Detective Wayne Easley later met with Troy Ware at his used car lot at the corner of East 9th and North State Line Avenue. Detectives Kirkland and Easley made several observations of note while there and later learned of Ware’s prior involvement in four aggravated robberies in California, along with several other felonies from the 70’s through the 90’s.

Detectives sought and received judicial approval for a search of Ware’s cell phone records which revealed consistencies related to the date and times of each one of the 14 robberies.